Ubuntu
ubiquity package

Should swap be wiped on SSD/USB-Stick installations?

Asked by David Ayers

I'm trying to install natty onto a USB-Stick. This is my third stick which is now reporting IO Errors during the installation. I've installed it before successfully on some of these sticks but currently everyone seems to fail. I've been installing from 3 different computers (2 Dell which came preinstalled with Ubuntu and one HP Presario) so it doesn't seem to be a hardware issue.

One thing do notice though, that the installation wipes the swap space. I have a gut feeling that is the wrong thing to do on SSD and USB-Sticks. I'm assuming this is killing my sticks one by one.

Is it really necessary to do this or can this be avoided dependent on the installation media?

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actionparsnip (andrew-woodhead666) said : 		#1

Did you MD5 test the ISO you downloaded?

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Best Ubfan (ubfan1) said : 		#2

Don't use swap on the sticks. If you really need it, make another (smaller, cheaper) stick just for swap. take a look at http://www.systemateka.com/usbboot.html for some further optimizations.

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Chris (fabricator4) said : 		#3

As said, don't use swap with a USB flash drive. I have noticed a problem with the partition table on some flash drives and I'm wondering if this is related to your problem. The problem often shows up as partitions not being seen in 'disk utility', and various errors. I've had some serious problems with making a bootable LiveUSB with startup disk creator.

The solution is to remove the partition table completely and then remake it with disk utility or Gparted.

Chris

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David Ayers (ayers) said : 		#4

Thanks Ubfan, that solved my question.